Steve Schmidt: Putting Palin on the ticket taught me there are worse things than losing

posted at 7:10 pm on March 12, 2012 by Allahpundit

Via Mediaite, Exhibit A in why John Podhoretz’s review of “Game Change” is titled “Back Stab.” Actually, scratch that; this is Exhibit Z. Schmidt’s getting more attention for it now because the movie’s getting attention but he’s been dumping on Palin publicly for more than two years and privately for who knows how long. (Leaks from unnamed staffers began less than a week after election day and Palin allies inside the campaign warned weeks earlier that they were coming.) This is his job now, I think — doing sporadic cable-news cameos as some sort of RINO Dr. Frankenstein who created a grassroots monster and has to atone by killing it. Michael Goldfarb, who left the Weekly Standard to join the McCain campaign’s communications team, has had enough:

I can’t speak to the film, because I can’t bring myself to watch it.

Other loyal McCain staffers I’ve spoken to have had the same reaction. While a few senior aides from the McCain campaign collaborated with the authors of Game Change and painted a picture of John McCain and Sarah Palin as so craven or ill-informed or incompetent that no handler could have gotten them elected, the reality is that John McCain was the better man and would have made a better president.

We lost that campaign partly because of events beyond our control, and partly as a result of bad counsel given by the same people who are apparently so flatteringly portrayed in this movie. John McCain deserved better than to be betrayed by his own top aides, and true to form he has honorably stuck by Gov. Palin even as she’s been smeared in the press over and over again by the same self-serving former staffers. I only hope that the Romney campaign takes notice of what’s happened here.

Says J-Pod, “The movie presents a moral case for the disreputable conduct of aides who, we can presume, fearlessly drop dirty dimes anonymously to save their own standing in the liberal culture from which they desperately wish not to be excluded.” Is that the explanation — that Schmidt is desperate to stay in the media’s good graces, maybe with an eye to a gig as a pundit? I’m not sure what he’d bring to a job like that besides paint-by-numbers Palin criticism for the MSNBC crowd. He could, I suppose, try to fill a niche as a more moderate Karl Rove, the campaign insider who knows how the process works and who loathes the right almost as much as his interviewers do, but Rove is a marquee name whereas right now Schmidt is really just “that guy who Woody Harrelson played.” Maybe he’s planning to rebrand himself as a strategist who caters to Republican candidates who disdain their own base? After the dismal failure of the Huntsman campaign, John Weaver’s likely done. Time for someone else to inherit that prized role.

The best part here is when he deflects a question about his own role in choosing Palin by saying, “Well, I was part of a team that settled on the result.” Click here and scroll down to “Narrative 4” to remind yourself just how big a part he played in that particular result. Exit question: Knowing now how big a risk Schmidt is to sandbag a campaign once it’s over, why would any candidate hire him?

by Sarah Palin on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 8:41pm ·
The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed.

Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context. I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s “enemy of the week” if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about. (Remember when I said you don’t need a title to make a difference?)

Just off the top of my head, a few of these concerning issues include: a debt crisis that has us hurdling towards a Greek-style collapse, entitlement programs going bankrupt, a credit downgrade for the first time in our history, a government takeover of the health care industry that makes care more expensive and puts a rationing panel of faceless bureaucrats between you and your doctor (aka a “death panel”), $4 and $5 gas at the pump exacerbated by an anti-drilling agenda that rejects good paying energy sector jobs and makes us more dependent on dangerous foreign regimes, a war in Afghanistan that seems unfocused and unending, a global presidential apology tour that’s made us look feeble and ridiculous, a housing market in the tank, the longest streak of high unemployment since World War II, private-sector job creators and industry strangled by burdensome regulations and an out-of-control Obama EPA, an attack on the Constitutional protection of religious liberty, an attack on private industry in right-to-work states, crony capitalism run amok in an administration in bed with their favored cronies to the detriment of genuine free market capitalism, green energy pay-to-play kickbacks to Obama campaign donors, and a Justice Department still stonewalling on a bungled operation that armed violent Mexican drug lords and led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.

I’m sure I missed a few things, but the list is just for starters. Along with millions of others, I’m willing and free to discuss these issues with the President anywhere, anytime; and I’m sure any of the four patriots currently running for the GOP nomination would also welcome the opportunity to talk about the problems everyday Americans face due to the abject failure of our current administration’s politics. The President will dismiss all of these problems by saying, “Well, uh, ‘change isn’t easy.’” But considering that candidate Obama promised to turn back the waters and heal the planet, the American people had at least a reasonable expectation that, at the bare minimum, he wouldn’t bankrupt our country.

This latest ad is quite odd, but also quite telling. It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed. And intended or not, now that his ad opens up the discussion of Barack Obama’s radical past associations and the radical philosophy that shaped his ideas about his promised “fundamental transformation” of our country, I welcome the media to join ordinary Americans in finally vetting Barack Obama. The media failed to do so in 2008 to the detriment of us all. Maybe this time around they can do their job.

They might start by noting the President’s heavily edited attack ad. Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro helps them out in this piece. Please read it all.

Hmmm, former Romney campaigners go to work for McCain and sabotage McCain’s campaign. Nothing to see here, move along…
SWalker on March 12, 2012 at 7:14 PM

Yep – he does seem like a plant from the garbage spewing out of his mouth…nasty. Internal campaign vetting may have weeded him out earlier and though I don’t know anything about him until I heard this clip, but he sure sounds like an Obama lover to me.

Which is precisely why I left the Mormon religion. Although, I still give credence to the family I deeply love that are devout mormons. Regardless, I don’t support Mitt because of Mormonism. Just the opposite. I see a turn around guy, who is willing to make sacrifices necessary to make things right. Romneycare and mormonism is the only thing holding him back from being a great GOP candidate in the eyes of purists. I get it. Still he can win.

I have watched several youtube clips of silly arnold in the last few days because of people’s suggestions. Stuff I didn’t remember from when I was a kid. Laugh long time GI.

arnold ziffel on March 12, 2012 at 10:10 PM

He was and always will be the most sophisticated actor on that program. Although if we’re talking looks, Lisa (rawr) was only number three on my little boy actress crushes just behind Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden. (Did we talk about this the other night?)

BTW, those of you discrediting Schmidt should thank him. You would never have your beloved Sarah to cheer for if they didn’t put her out there. None of you would never even have known she existed.

rubberneck on March 12, 2012 at 9:46 PM

Not true. I saw her appearance on Craig Ferguson’s late night show years ago when she bestowed upon him honorary Alaskan citizenship. She was funny, natural, telegenic, and engaging. I was curious about her, thought she had charisma (a rarity among our leaders it seems), star quality, delighted she was a Republican. I’m guessing she would’ve been a prominent GOP voice even without being McCain’s VP pick.

The scary thing is that Schmidt has put himself in front of an MSNBC audience and tried to convince them that Sarah Palin, as Vice-President is worse than Obama as President.

I’ve seen people like Schmidt before who, when they lose, they try for a scapegoat. I’ll bet he was against having Palin on the ticket from the beginning, that’s the first bet. Next, I’ll bet that, if you looked over the campaign strategy they drafted, you’d question everything he did, in relation to Sarah Palin. You can’t possibly believe that same person he’s talking about, was the person who gave such a great speech, with a faulty teleprompter. I believe that moment in time was the one area where the Democrats and the media knew they had to go after her every way they could. I don’t recall ever seeing a political opponent gone after by everyone in the opposition, like they all went after Sarah Palin and her family.

Personally, Steve Schmidt is more scary to me than Sarah Palin. He was entrusted with running a presidential campaign and, looking at how inept he was at that, I’m not sure he could get himself elected Dog Catcher.

He was and always will be the most sophisticated actor on that program. Although if we’re talking looks, Lisa (rawr) was only number three on my little boy actress crushes just behind Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden. (Did we talk about this the other night?)

hawkdriver on March 12, 2012 at 10:18 PM

Yes Larry we did. My favorite would probably be Elizabeth Montgomery though. Just something about her made me say I likee.

Personally, Steve Schmidt is more scary to me than Sarah Palin. He was entrusted with running a presidential campaign and, looking at how inept he was at that, I’m not sure he could get himself elected Dog Catcher.

Elizabeth Montgomery did have that charm as well as beauty, she passed on way too soon, she was the daughter of Reagan’s red denouncing colleague Robert Montgomery, and was very left wing, along with her husband Robert Foxworth, one of the last things she participated in was narrating ‘the Panama Deception’ the ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ of it’s day,

Knowing now how big a risk Schmidt is to sandbag a campaign once it’s over, why would any candidate hire him?

Wow, Allah, great question, I have been wondering that myself. I would think Romney needs to watch his back since these 2 so freely threw McCain and Palin under the bus and Nicole’s husband is now working for Romney.

Also, wow, just read the Sarah Palin smackdown of Obama posted above. Priceless. For you haters here, don’t you wish those 4 musketeers still running had her communications skills? None of them so succinctly smack down Obama. And Romney is too busy spending millions in every state ripping his opponents instead of focusing on Obama. I guess his campaign aides are just as incompetent as the 2 behind game change.

Here’s what I find scary. Look out across the media and see how many of the media elite that wanted McCain to win the GOP nomination are now hoping to see Romney win it in 2012?

MikeA on March 12, 2012 at 10:32 PM

This isn’t “scary”, this is typical. They will never be a cheerleader for a conservative to win a GOP presidential nomination. They will ALWAYS go for the moderate. They are cheering him on now, so he can sew it up and then they will turn on him with a rabid viciousness. It is their way.

Personally, Steve Schmidt is more scary to me than Sarah Palin. He was entrusted with running a presidential campaign and, looking at how inept he was at that, I’m not sure he could get himself elected Dog Catcher.

First of all I have to fault Sen McCain for hiring someone like Schmidt to run his campaign. Kinda casts a cloud what I see as his ability to choose persons to put in positions of power.

Next, Schmidt ran McCain’s campaign into the ground, going from a lead right after the Republican convention, to getting his but kicked in the election. David Axelrod has to still be giggling when thinking about that softball. It was Schmidt that threw Gov. Palin to Katie Couric, thinking Katie would be fair and balanced. Wrong network dude!

Schmidt is obviously looking to cast the blame for this failure to someone else. The lesson here is, any Republican or Democrat campaign that hires this slug to do anything above toilet cleaning is run by a fool and deserves what they get when he again covers his ass with leaks and a book.

Also, wow, just read the Sarah Palin smackdown of Obama posted above. Priceless. For you haters here, don’t you wish those 4 musketeers still running had her communications skills? None of them so succinctly smack down Obama. And Romney is too busy spending millions in every state ripping his opponents instead of focusing on Obama. I guess his campaign aides are just as incompetent as the 2 behind game change.

karenhasfreedom on March 12, 2012 at 10:34 PM

isn’t it amazing how she manages to string all those purty soundin’ words together like that?

Heck…I’ve been reading over on twitter #gamechange that she’s the dumbest thing since…..George Bush! /

One thing you can count on: Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace will never be hired by any national campaign again, not on our side.

Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie and the Bush Family all despise Sarah Palin like poison. But there’s one thing they hate worse than Palin-a disloyal backstabber. That’s what Schmidt and Wallace are. Not only did they sell out their principal, John McCain, but one of them admitted taking McCain’s money and voting for Obama.

That’s high treason in the political world.

You don’t take the King’s Coin and turn on the King because you don’t like the Princess.

These two will never get a job outside of the political media again. And that’s fine by me; Romney probably sent Wallace in to set up Palin for a big fall. Now she’s toxic in the GOP and will never get a job working for anyone, while Schmidt has the reputation of a dishonest bumbler who will sell your campaign out to the Democrats and Hollywood for money.

Four years and they are still pumping out hearsay from liars and scumbags. We have the Harvard law professor and smartest man ever to occupy the WhiteHouse on tape mispronouncing corpseman, won’t show his grades and doesn’t have a clue what a breathalyzer is for.

They are obsessed loons and I must say Palin is virtually and industry for these people. If she could charge liberals and idiot rinos money for bashing her, the woman would make Warren Buffet look like a pauper. She lost the presidential race people, she resigned as governor because of the mountain of fake ethical complaints.

There is no purpose for this and she isn’t running for anything. I just don’t understand why these people are so threatened!

I agree. She did consider herself both an actress and comedienne though. There have been more serious roles she’s played and I recall thinking the settling needs to be a bit more lighthearted for her acting style.

Schmidt is obviously looking to cast the blame for this failure to someone else. The lesson here is, any Republican or Democrat campaign that hires this slug to do anything above toilet cleaning is run by a fool and deserves what they get when he again covers his ass with leaks and a book.

WestTexasBirdDog on March 12, 2012 at 10:44 PM

Somewhere in all this is the hidden hand of Mitt Romney. Wallace’s husband worked for Mitt in 2008, and I have no doubt that Schmidt was trashing Palin during the post-election environment because he assumed that Mittens and Rove were tight as ticks and that Mitt was swimming in cash. If Schmidt could dump on Palin, he could hopefully get Mittens to take him on.

The Romney Campaign is filled with some of the most moderate, squishy, tone-deaf people since the Omegas played the heavies in Animal House. But Mittens didn’t get to be as rich as he is by being the kind of guy who would hire Steve Schmidt.

This isn’t “scary”, this is typical. They will never be a cheerleader for a conservative to win a GOP presidential nomination. They will ALWAYS go for the moderate. They are cheering him on now, so he can sew it up and then they will turn on him with a rabid viciousness. It is their way.

karenhasfreedom on March 12, 2012 at 10:40 PM

.
I haven’t read the preceding pages of posts.
If no one else has been nominated “threadwinner”, I say give to karen’.

Let’s Talk About the Real Issues, Mr. President
by Sarah Palin on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 8:41pm ·

idesign on March 12, 2012 at 10:02 PM

Wow wow wow. This is why I love Sarah. Because, in her shoes, if I had her writing skills, I’d have written exactly what she wrote, word for word, no corrections. Did you read the middle paragraphs where she lists the problems of the country, many which she highlights routinely? Focused, clear, to the point. She’s head and shoulders above other conservative writers.

Wow wow wow. This is why I love Sarah. Because, in her shoes, if I had her writing skills, I’d have written exactly what she wrote, word for word, no corrections. Did you read the middle paragraphs where she lists the problems of the country, many which she highlights routinely? Focused, clear, to the point. She’s head and shoulders above other conservative writers.

Paul-Cincy on March 12, 2012 at 11:12 PM

She is a master of communication, isn’t she? Very plain spoken, persuasive and easy to understand. That’s been her hallmark since coming out at the GOP convention with old what’s his name.

Let’s Talk About the Real Issues, Mr. President
by Sarah Palin on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 8:41pm ·

idesign on March 12, 2012 at 10:02 PM

Wow wow wow. This is why I love Sarah. Because, in her shoes, if I had her writing skills, I’d have written exactly what she wrote, word for word, no corrections. Did you read the middle paragraphs where she lists the problems of the country, many which she highlights routinely? Focused, clear, to the point. She’s head and shoulders above other conservative writers.

Historical revision by goldfarb. McCain was very quiet after the election and didn’t do anything to stop what schmidter and wallace were doing. Of course, it was beneficial to him to have a lot of the blame and spotlight on somebody else.

She is a master of communication, isn’t she? Very plain spoken, persuasive and easy to understand. That’s been her hallmark since coming out at the GOP convention with old what’s his name.
idesign on March 12, 2012 at 11:20 PM

That’s why the establishment hates her, she doesn’t provide cover like all the other jerks

She would shine the light on waste and fraud and the DCers know it

I cant remember anything the other candidates drone on about and it’s not like there aren’t chinks in the armor that can be can-opened

BTW, those of you discrediting Schmidt should thank him. You would never have your beloved Sarah to cheer for if they didn’t put her out there. None of you would never even have known she existed.rubberneck on March 12, 2012 at 9:46 PM

.What the (expletive)?

Schmidt didn’t have anything to do with putting her out there; he did everything he could to sabotage her after McCain picked her.
.
Sarah already had a reputation with the “conservative media” as a fearless Governor going after corruption in her own party, and very vocal, ‘pro-drilling in ANWR’ position.

As Glenn Reynolds has said on many occasion ‘they aren’t antiwar, just on the other side’ There are a lot of stars I’ve lost respect for in the interim, Tina Fey for missing the point of ‘Mean Girls’
and acting just like a ‘Plastic’ Ashley Judd who had a round of lupophilia, and apparently was rewarded with an ABC show for it.

Re: Taxes Wow… That’s quite a savings!! Glad they were able to help. The tax code is so oppressive. One of the problems is that many taxpayers and some preparers don’t know what to even look for in the way of deductions. They evidently kept searching which speaks highly of them!! Some preparers can do a better job than say H.R. Block, etc.

I’ve noticed many changes this year in the IRS requiring more information and additional forms to complete. The forms are more complicated to prepare etc. Just somebody redesigning a form for no particular reason. Which I expected with this crew in charge, LOL

Considering that Steve Schmidt is the one who pushed Sarah Palin, what does that say about Steve Schmidt’s judgment that he thinks that she is a moron now. If she is this horrible moron who should never be Vice President as Schmidt seems to think now, then isn’t it his fault for pushing the idea in the first place? Plus, perhaps putting her on Meet the Press in the summer and vetting her (i.e. the Bristol situation) might have been a good idea.

If you are not with Sarah Palin , then you are with Barack Obama and tyranny. Got that you stupid freaking Romneybots. If you don’t stand for Sarah Palin against the evil that is Obama then I don’t want to be your side because you are no to us, bluegill, csdeven, any of your stupid Romneybots. You stand for Sarah Palin or this country falls into people like Obama and radical left’s hands for the rest your lifetime, Peggy Noonan, Allahpundit, Tina Korbe, and all the establishment pukes that I don’t deserve air.